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Ford Focus 1.6 Efficient Duratec Engine
By Matthew C. Keegan
Small engines rarely receive the praise that they're due. Even in these days of heightened awareness of gas prices and vehicle pollutants, most smaller engines are ignored because they don't deliver the horsepower or torque of their bigger brothers.
Over the next few years we're going to become very acquainted with smaller and lighter engines because the federal government is mandating that the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) for vehicle fleets rise to 35 mpg. This means that if you are a manufacturer, such as Ford, and want to continue selling large pick up trucks that get 22 mpg, then you must offset those vehicles with ones that get 40 mpg or more.
New Fuel Economy Mandates
It's a convoluted and crazy system, but it is also what the federal government has mandated. We'll have to get used to it because by 2015, what engines are found underneath the hood of most cars, minivans, crossovers, pickup trucks, and sport/utility vehicles will be different from what we see today.
One example of an engine that is already efficient and helping an automaker meet today's fuel guidelines it the Ford Focus 1.6 four cylinder engine. That engine is part of a family of newer, modern engines first introduced by the Ford Motor Company in 1993, but it isn't the smallest in that group. Engines as small as 1.25L are sold internationally, helping Ford to serve markets where even lighter and smaller cars are sold.
North American Ford Focus
Now I know what you're thinking: the Ford Focus 1.6 engine isn't sold in North America. You are correct. That engine is currently sold in other markets, such as Europe, while the US Focus gets a 2.0L engine. Both engines are from the same family; the only difference it that the Focus 2.0L I4 engine sold on this side of the Atlantic offers a larger displacement.
By next year the Ford Focus 1.6 engine will be found in the 2011 Fiesta and will also be used in the 2012 Focus when that car arrives in 2011. In Europe, the Ford Focus 1.6 delivers 100 horsepower and 150 lb-feet of torque and, when paired with a five speed manual transmission, returns approximately 32 mpg city/51 mpg highway.
Those numbers are amazing, but when the Ford Focus 1.6 engine arrives in North America, fuel economy numbers will be less because our pollution restrictions are the highest in the world. Various electronic and technological add-ons will drop the fuel economy, but achieving 40 mpg on the highway shouldn't be a problem.
Duratec Driving Delights
So what's so special about a Duratec engine? Many things including: dual overhead cam, four valves per cylinder, cast aluminum engine block and cylinder head, sequential multi-port fuel injection, and EEC-V engine electronics.
Together, the Ford Focus 1.6 I4 engine and its family of Duratec engines help squeeze more power while consuming less gas and emitting few pollutants than four cylinder engines from a generation ago. That will be the theme Ford carries forward in the years to come when Duratec eventually gives way to EcoBoost, Ford's line of direct injected, turbocharged engines.
Source: Ford Motor Company
Small engines rarely receive the praise that they're due. Even in these days of heightened awareness of gas prices and vehicle pollutants, most smaller engines are ignored because they don't deliver the horsepower or torque of their bigger brothers.
Over the next few years we're going to become very acquainted with smaller and lighter engines because the federal government is mandating that the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) for vehicle fleets rise to 35 mpg. This means that if you are a manufacturer, such as Ford, and want to continue selling large pick up trucks that get 22 mpg, then you must offset those vehicles with ones that get 40 mpg or more.
New Fuel Economy Mandates
It's a convoluted and crazy system, but it is also what the federal government has mandated. We'll have to get used to it because by 2015, what engines are found underneath the hood of most cars, minivans, crossovers, pickup trucks, and sport/utility vehicles will be different from what we see today.
One example of an engine that is already efficient and helping an automaker meet today's fuel guidelines it the Ford Focus 1.6 four cylinder engine. That engine is part of a family of newer, modern engines first introduced by the Ford Motor Company in 1993, but it isn't the smallest in that group. Engines as small as 1.25L are sold internationally, helping Ford to serve markets where even lighter and smaller cars are sold.
North American Ford Focus
Now I know what you're thinking: the Ford Focus 1.6 engine isn't sold in North America. You are correct. That engine is currently sold in other markets, such as Europe, while the US Focus gets a 2.0L engine. Both engines are from the same family; the only difference it that the Focus 2.0L I4 engine sold on this side of the Atlantic offers a larger displacement.
By next year the Ford Focus 1.6 engine will be found in the 2011 Fiesta and will also be used in the 2012 Focus when that car arrives in 2011. In Europe, the Ford Focus 1.6 delivers 100 horsepower and 150 lb-feet of torque and, when paired with a five speed manual transmission, returns approximately 32 mpg city/51 mpg highway.
Those numbers are amazing, but when the Ford Focus 1.6 engine arrives in North America, fuel economy numbers will be less because our pollution restrictions are the highest in the world. Various electronic and technological add-ons will drop the fuel economy, but achieving 40 mpg on the highway shouldn't be a problem.
Duratec Driving Delights
So what's so special about a Duratec engine? Many things including: dual overhead cam, four valves per cylinder, cast aluminum engine block and cylinder head, sequential multi-port fuel injection, and EEC-V engine electronics.
Together, the Ford Focus 1.6 I4 engine and its family of Duratec engines help squeeze more power while consuming less gas and emitting few pollutants than four cylinder engines from a generation ago. That will be the theme Ford carries forward in the years to come when Duratec eventually gives way to EcoBoost, Ford's line of direct injected, turbocharged engines.
Source: Ford Motor Company
